Black Light

[kpkroy]

Hello

My friends and I were practicing translating English an article from International Herald Tribune, when we came across the following part. The bold part is where we disagreed on its meaning.


The order to close Zanan (a magazine published in Iran) - which means woman in Persian - is the latest outrage and a sign of how much Ahmadinejad and the mullahs (religious leaders in Iran) fear any debate. Sherkat, a former (Iranian) religous revolutionary turned pragmatic feminist, has kept Zanan open for 16 years and 152 issues, despite financial and political pressures. She has managed to inform her readers without overly infuriating the mullahs - until now. According to reports from Iran, authorities said that the magazine was a "threat to the psychological security of the society" because it showed Iranian women in a "black light."

The truth is, the magazine respected and celebrated Iranian women by offering articles on health, parenting, legal issues, literature and women's achievements...


The passage may be a little confusing, with the words "mullah" and all, but i tried to make the passage as clear as possible through adding explanation in paranthesis.

About the bold part:the main question on this is
what does the black light mean?

in the dictionary, it says "invisible lights."

so, among my friends, group A asserted that the meaning of the sentecne was
"...the magazine was a threat to the psychological security of the society because it showed Iranian women who had been invisible (not well known to the public/ alienated from the society)..."

as a basis, they asserted that black light meant "invisible lights." so according to group A, the bold part means "zanan casted lights on the invisible part of the society."

On the other hand, group B asserts that
as black lights will turn the original color into a strange one (like in night clubs)

the meaning of the bold part would be
"...the magazine was a threat to the psychological security of the society because it showed Iranian women different than the actual state"





also group B asserted that if the original text had been

"...the magazine was a threat to the psychological security of the society because it showed Iranian women in black light"

instead of

"...the magazine was a threat to the psychological security of the society because it showed Iranian women in a black light"

then group A might have made more sense. but with the article "a," only group B's interpretation is right.





I know this is a long thread - and a confusing one- but thanx for reading. I would really appreciate a reply to this question.

thanx.

[pumpjockey]

I think Goverment is claiming that magazine is making iranian women look bad.
To show something in a black light is to making something look bad and unhappy.